Poker Online

Poker Online

Poker is regarded as the most skill based modern casino game. It is in fact 100% fair if playing against other players, with no house edge of any kind to compete with. It’s true that luck does play a part as to how well a player will do, but a sufficiently skilled player will still make the most of average cards and come out on top. It is for this reason that poker is extremely popular around the world, played on every continent, and existing in at least some form in almost every country. In fact, if there is a casino out there, it’s almost certain that poker will be on offer. This includes both real world and digital casinos.

In its online form poker is unchanged, paying identical to how it exists with physical cards. There is no bias of any kind in a digital deck of cards, and statistically a real deck of cards and virtual deck of cards are identical. There are, however, differences between real and online poker that can’t be ignored, but as technology advances these difference are becoming less. For one thing, poker is a game based very much around reading your opponent, and in an online game of poker this is not so easily done, given that your opponent exists only as an unmoving avatar image. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

Online Poker Availability

As has already been said, online poker is available in every online casino. It is considered a staple of the casino world, and an online casino would seem very out of place if not offering poker. There is a question, however, as to whether an online casino will offer multiplayer poker or video poker. There is a distinct difference in these two games, and although video poker likewise uses an unbiased deck of cards, some raise the question as to whether video poker can be classified the same as multiplayer poker.

In video poker the rules are that the player attempts to get the best hand possible, with payouts given for hands of a value above a certain level. The basic rules of poker are used, in that hand values are the same, but just attempting to get a good does not reflect the complicated game of multiplayer poker. Still, video poker is good fun and many thoroughly enjoy it. In fact, video poker is one of the most popular forms of online casino games played.

Multiplayer online poker is a great deal more in-depth than video poker, and not just in terms of actual game play. Video poker is a single program loaded and run by a given device. A multiplayer game, on the other hand, is a constantly updated process that is based on information given by a number of different sources. It’s by no means a simple program. The fact that the game relies on data from external sources is both online multiplayer poker’s biggest strengths and weaknesses.

The Unreliable Factor

Online multiplayer poker is generally designed very well, and plays smoothly regardless if you are on a tablet, laptop or home computer. The controls are sleek and easy to understand, and few have any problems understanding how the game works. But this does not mean that the other people you are playing against are going to be reliable. It is not uncommon that an opponent loses connection due to a bad internet feed, which may have that opponent dropping unexpectedly out of the game. The program is designed to deal with such things, and the game will continue on regardless, but it is an issue that does exist in the online world.

Real Opponents

On the other hand, that multiplayer online poker allows for casino gamers to play against one another makes the game leagues more interesting and exciting than many online single player casino games, at least for some. There is not a programme on earth that can mimic the unpredictability of a real person, and having a real flesh and blood opponent takes the experience to a new level. Trying to figure out what the other players are thinking is a game all of its own, and the core of the intense strategy of poker. Those who are skilled will likely shine, and those who are not as skilled will quickly learn. Poker is a popular game for a reason.

Live Poker

As we mentioned earlier, one problem that can’t be denied with multiplayer poker is the lack of being able to see one’s opponent. Seeing your opponents gives major clues as to what they might be thinking, and the common sight of a poker player wearing sunglasses is a side effect of this phenomenon. Professional poker players spend years not betraying their thoughts with their actions, and it is a very big part of the game. Online multiplayer poker has only small profile photos, or little digital figures to show the other players. There is still a great deal of strategy that can be used, and much can be determined from how other players bet, but not seeing them is still a missing factor.

Live poker casinos allow poker players to see one another via streaming web feeds. When playing, a live video of each of your opponents will be seen, sent directly via a web camera. It eliminates much of the problems mentioned, and takes online multiplayer poker to a new level. In fact, it is said by many to be the best possible way to play online. So, the problem has more or less been solved. Only, it takes a pretty hefty internet connection to stream multiple live video feeds simultaneously. Many have internet connections already capable of this, but there are many more who don’t Either way, as broadband internet becomes more readily available live poker casinos are sure to become more popular. N the meantime, millions still enjoy standard multiplayer poker on a daily basis.